Page 5 of Forty Deaths Till Us Part

I moved to the salt circle as instructed and waited for the first test. Ursula flicked her wrist, and a bronze-colored fire ignited the circle. She could make that fire any color, but the high priestess was a traditionalist, and the fire moved towardthe middle before winding its way up my legs. It danced over my clothes, but this was a fire of magic and there was no heat and no pain. It swirled around me as if I was its lover and continued to move upward on my body. The hue changed as it hit my chest. Flickers of blue, silver, and pink. There were too many to name, and I stared at the rainbow of color in awe.

Brigid paled and turned to Ursula. “All of them. She has every bronze power.”

The flame died away as I considered her words. I didn’t even know what all the bronze powers were; a witch only trained on the ones she possessed. “You will tell me what those are, right?”

Ursula nodded. “You will be provided with all the information you need. Let’s finish the tests.”

I remained in the circle as Ursula took a vial filled with a light-purple liquid. Lavender helped create the beautiful color and scent. I had grown the ingredients for that portion when I’d been alive and owned the flower shop.

Brigid took the potion from Ursula and walked over to hand it to me. Her black robes moved like ribbons in the wind as she passed it to me. “Drink it,” she said curtly.

I recognized every element in that potion and my senses came alive. “Lavender, mink oil, moon lace, Grecian salt, and amethyst.” While the ingredients were important, it was the spell used on the potion that would reveal my magic. I downed the vial.

The tingling feeling traveled from my throat and spread outward. I flipped my palm up before a vine grew from my palm. “That is my original power.” When my opposite hand tingled, I flipped it up and fire erupted on the other.

Brigid hissed. “Fire magic? That should not be.”

There was a cloud of smoke in both hands next, and I looked at Ursula when she stepped forward.

“You have two unidentified magics,” she said in awe and fear.

I gave Rene a dirty look. “You jinxed me. I told you I was a unicorn.”

Rene smiled, but his eyes remained on Ursula and Brigid. He may have agreed to bring me here, but he didn’t trust the elder witches at all. “I assume that was the silver test?”

Ursula pointed to the table. “Yes. This is the gold. Brigid, give her the mirror,” she said rudely.

Brigid’s eyebrows furrowed, but she grabbed the intricately-carved silver mirror from the table. It was able to reveal a seer, but I had no precursors for such a magic and had never held it.

She brought it to me and held it out to me ceremoniously. “Here. Stare into it and see if it reacts to you.”

I took the hand-held mirror that looked like it was from another era and turned the reflective surface toward me. At first there was nothing except my reflection, but slowly the background in the mirror began to blur. While my face stayed the same, I began to see glimpses of an untraveled path. A healer. A teacher. A botanist. The last was the most like me, but the clothing I wore was from some forgotten era. “Are these my past lives?”

Ursula glanced at Brigid with concern. “She should see her future, not her past lives.”

Brigid glanced down nervously. “If her magic is stronger than that of the first seer, then she is not bound by its rules.”

Ursula’s lip twitched. “Impossible. The first seer was the most powerful witch ever born. They were strict with breeding then. There was no human dilution in those days.”

My eyes flickered. “Human dilution? Are you flipping kidding me?”

Ursula rolled her eyes. “I didn’t make the rules then, Raven. The witches and warlocks were very particular about mixing bloodlines. Marriages were approved and... arranged to ensure powerful progeny.”

I grunted. “I bet you wish you could still get away with that bullshit.”

Ursula pointed at the mirror. “Brigid, take the mirror and test for outliers.”

“What are outliers?” Rene asked.

I pointed to the various objects on the table. “They are magics that are extremely rare. Usually, only one or two witches have ever had them. They are too unusual to be included in the bronze or silver test. As you may have noticed, they consider a true seer to be the highest form of magic. I didn’t see my future, so I don’t think I possess that power.”

Ursula looked relieved by that, but she didn’t like the result I had with the mirror either. “Touch the objects on the table, Raven.”

I exited the salt circle and began to touch the artifacts sitting there. The black crystal did nothing, but the old cloth produced a dark shadow.

“A shroud,” Ursula said with wonder.

A few objects sent a tinge of awareness through me, but no others reacted visibly. I said nothing about these objects, as Ursula looked like she was ready to lash out. Suggesting I may be more powerful was the last thing I wanted.